As soon as Jiang Yi and his guard, Uncle Tao, left, Grandmother Chang immediately came in worried.
"Aiyo, Cici, are you alright?"
Seeing how concerned she was, a rare tinge of warmth spread in Jun Ci's heart as she shook her head and smiled, "I'm fine, grandma, you don't have to worry."
"That's good, those two people didn't look like good people!"
Grandmother Chang could see Jiang Yi's true colors.
Jun Ci smiled and agreed, "Yes yes yes, Grandmother Chang, you're absolutely right!"
"Aiyo, I'm glad you're fine. I've made some white fungus lotus seed soup. Come in, I'll get a bowl for you."
Ever since she had found out about Jun Ci's past history, Grandmother Chang had been very caring toward Jun Ci.
She often invited Jun Ci over to her place for meals and would give a portion of food to Jun Ci whenever she cooked.
She loved Jun Ci dearly from the bottom of her heart.
Jun Ci was also considered lucky to have someone who cared about her in this old era.
Gu Lu's information network monitored the outside, and when Uncle Tao left, it got someone to chase Zhang Changming away.
With someone helping her deal with this annoying matter, Jun Ci was happy to relax.
She didn't bother going outside to take a look.
At night, Gu Lu activated the magnetic field with a noise-blocking system so that Jun Ci could have a better sleep.
It was pitiful enough for His Highness to end up in this era alone.
Gu Lu knew that it was the only thing that His Highness could rely on right now.
Hence, it must do everything it can to help His Highness.
At this moment, Gu Lu realized that the video it had uploaded on the D website had been approved.
Gu Lu could actually easily manipulate these things, such as changing the D website's recommendation system to make this video advertised on the home page.
But, like His Highness had said, gradual progress was also a good thing.
If they kept handling everything this way, life would be a lot less fun.
This was His Highness' belief, and Gu Lu actually didn't really understand.
But it respected His Highness.
D website was currently the most popular bullet screen video site in the country.
The traffic on the D website was always so large that other video sites couldn't keep up.
It was an all-in-one site with live streaming, variety shows, TV dramas, music, and so on.
At least tens of thousands of videos were being uploaded onto the website every day.
Furthermore, there were also many popular old videos that had topped the list and taken up the most eye-catching places. It was quite challenging for the video of a UP master who wasn't popular at all to get attention.
Netizens would eventually find all of the interesting videos that appeared on the D website, but there were also many videos that silently fell into the void.
Ding Yang was an ordinary university student in his second year and was known as a homebody.
He didn't like to go out and naturally didn't like to leave the dormitory.
His life's greatest pleasure was to browse the D website every day in the dormitory and support his favorite characters or watch TV series he liked.
Although most people were asleep by 11 PM, it was the prime time for most D-friends (short form for members of the D website).
The comic and TV series that Ding Yang had been chasing had already ended, and he didn't like any of the new releases. His unlimited resources were close to 0, and he urgently needed a new video to sustain his daily life.
After scrolling through the foreign TV series section (including animations), he couldn't find any good resources.
Ding Yang tapped into the movie section.
By lucky coincidence, he saw that among the new video uploads, there was one called 'First episode of "The Glorious History of the Interstellar Empire"'.
En, a new sci-fi movie?
And it's a film review?
Ding Yang, who was quite interested in sci-fi, tapped onto the video out of curiosity.


(A refreshing novel about rebirth and disguise, with the male lead Jiang Yi and female lead Jun Ci)
The popular and magnificent ‘crown prince’ was reborn into a disfigured little pathetic girl whom everyone loathes.
The Crown Prince expressed that this all didn’t matter!
The body’s original appearance was actually a face that everyone, men and women, old and young, would go crazy for.
“He” was the perfect lover in the hearts of countless men and women.
Anyone would dream of marrying her!
But one day, the prince charming became a goddess?
Male fans: How explosive!
Jiang Yi: I’m not going to accept this, I am her husband!
Jun Ci smirked. So what exactly are you not accepting?

The shooting of Balala the Fairy was making smooth progress.
Mid-December, there came a brief adjusting period of the shooting.
Initially, when they couldn't find an actor for Prince Fun, Wang Kui suggested that Meng Lang play the role himself.
Meng Lang took the advice.
Hence, he moved all his scenes to mid-December, devoting the period from December to early January to shoot his own scenes.
The shooting gave Meng Lang a first-hand experience of how hard an actor's work was.
Remembering the lines was the simplest task among all things. He also had to figure out his position and his acting style for each scene…
Other actors and actresses had him, the director, to give them instruction, but he had no one to turn to except for himself.
And that wasn't the hardest part.
The hardest part was to speak in the genuine "Fairy Castle accent"!
Prince Fun wasn't that attractive a character in the original version. The actor was also a mediocre one who didn't stand out in any way.
However, his unique accent gave soul to the role and "Fairy Castle accent" had also become the most attractive aspect of the role.
During the shooting, the crew only found their director's accent odd, but didn't find it exceptionally funny.
From a bystander's point of view, Meng Lang also couldn't understand why "it's none o' y'all business" suddenly became a meme.
Although he couldn't understand it, this didn't stop Meng Lang from recreating it. After all, he also wanted to know if "it's none o' y'all business" could become a hit phrase online again.
…
Something big happened before Christmas that year!
After some pre-broadcasting promotion, TBS aired the dubbed and repackaged Blazing Teens to the Japanese audience.
Once the TBS broadcasted it, Meng Lang found some time to check his email for the good news Mr Ishikawa sent him.
Blazing Teens's viewing rates skyrocketed on the first day and even defeated the popular show of NHK, "Amnesiac Mother".
Compared to this country, Japan had much fewer TV channels, which meant that the audience had much less choice.
If one of the limited TV channels had a popular show, group psychology would lead to viewing rates that were high enough to shock any TV professionals here.
Blazing Teens had achieved a viewing rate of 34.5%!
"This is great! Meng San, the president of my company, is very interested in the cooperation mode you mentioned and he would like to further discuss it with you."
Meng Lang was finally relieved after he read Ishikawa's email.
An exceptional viewing rate was great news. That way, it was possible to work with the channel again. If the show turned out to be a failure, it would be very difficult to attract TBS' attention again.
After logging out of his email box, out of curiosity, Meng Lang went to the largest online movie and television review forum, to see how the Japanese online community felt about Blazing Teens.
[Webpage being translated…]
"とてもクールです."
[It's so cool!]
"監督は天才です.霓虹の監督は彼に習うべきです."
[The director is a genius! Our directors should learn from him.]
[Only registered users can use the "like" function…]
"李飛は神です."
[Li Fei is a god!]
"ミリーは私の妻です."
[Mi Li is my wife.]
"A Chinese student studying in Japan sends his support!"
[Translation failed…]
"보기가지루하다."
[So boring.]
Most of them were positive reviews!
There were as many as over 100 posts on Blazing Teens on this forum, which proved how unbelievably popular the show was.
The show had only been broadcasted today and over 100 posts was already a scary number.
After all, the forum only had a little over 50,000 users…
After checking the forum, Meng Lang went over to the official webpage of several media outlets to see their news report.
Most of the Japanese media reported on the incredible viewing rates of Blazing Teens, but most of them were mocking TBS.
According to them, TBS had degenerated. The channel had turned to a TV show from this country to save its viewing rates.
Why wouldn't the channel consider Japanese or American shows, which were more finely made?
TBS was such a traitor!
The media review on Blazing Teens had been mostly negative, criticizing Blazing Teens through colored spectacles.
A senator even said during an interview that the government would adopt more rigorous censoring mechanisms, banning certain inappropriate foreign movies and TV works.
What the hell?
As if calling TBS a traitor wasn't ridiculous enough, some senator of the opposition party actually tried to ban the show. Who on earth did he think he was?
The media reviews aside, from the audience's perspective, Blazing Teens was a great success.
TBS should have seen that as well, which was why they had agreed to Meng Lang's request for future cooperation. 
As for being called a traitor, TBS couldn't care less.
Money spoke louder. As long as there was profit, there was business.
The media was all empty words. Even if things got physical, TBS was still sure to be the winner.
The popularity the show gained in Japan gave Meng Lang a confidence boost.
The feature shows in this world had chosen the wrong path. They were supposed to be live-action shows targeting children and featuring toys, but had ended up becoming sci-fi horror cult TV series…
The audience had never seen a novel feature show like Blazing Teens that had been so "finely made".
This was what a feature show supposed to look like!
Happy, enthusiastic, and all-age shows should have been what feature shows aimed for, not some creepy horror shows, which didn't even have any toys at all. The directors were puffed up with pride after some idiotic comments online called their shows "divine".
They had actually tried to attract the grownups with such shows.
Forget about it. There were more Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters out there than they could choose from. Why would they want to watch a childish TV series with inferior special effects?
The feature show directors of this world had gotten it completely wrong.
It was with such a background that Blazing Teens' success became so plausible.
It was all thanks to the comparison.
Blazing Teens might have been crappy, but compared to its peers, it was a miracle!
After the show gained popularity in the Japanese market, more European and American TV channels contacted Meng Lang.
Their reasoning was the same as TBS.
We need yo-yos!
Meng Lang accepted all offers, regardless of the prices.
Afterward, the newly set up official Weibo account of Pengda Pictures created a post, which had gone viral and soon took over the frontpage of Weibo.
Even the haughty national owned media retweeted the post, calling it "the most incredible cultural export" of the literary and art circles.
Blazing Teens had gone viral overseas!
The movie and TV industry was baffled by the news.
Recalling all the works that had been ignored at Cannes, Berlin, and Venice, a lot of directors didn't know what to say.
Was this feeling called envy?
Why did so many people like this children's TV show?
The audience nowadays was incorrigible!


Meng Lang wakes up in a parallel universe as a fresh graduate only to realize that Pengda Toy Factory—his family business—is on the verge of bankruptcy. So, he decides to do what he does best (in his previous life) to save the day—making TV shows.
Apparently, this alternative reality where piracy has been annihilated can be a paradise for spin-off merchandise, but no production company has made good used of this opportunity until Meng Lang shows up.
Blazing Teens, the first feature show Meng Lang directs ("borrowed" from his original universe, to be more precise) introduces yo-yos to this world for the first time. Once he realizes how profitable it is to sell spin-off toys, he becomes an expert in it.
Balala the Fairies, Explosive Boys, Kamen Rider… Meng Lang is determined to become “King of feature shows” in this world. Although, to the critics, he is nothing but a toy vender…

Opening the script, he began to read it line by line and page by page. Chen Jin read it rather meticulously. He took half an hour to to read a script that was only about 10,000 words. He could not help but smile at certain parts of the story. After reading the last page, he nodded and praised, "Not bad, this script is really not bad at all."
Shi Xiao Tao wrote a story that not only warmed the heart but was also rather shrewd. The Wa-wah robot had accepted the mission to protect the Earth's environment. For that purpose, it had entered the home of a family of four. From there, it was a series of stories about Wa-wah, the eldest daughter, Lan Lan, and the youngest son, Ah Bao. Eight year old Lan Lan was a more sensible child. She liked cleanliness and loved Wa-wah. Six year old Ah Bao was a naughty kid. He was mischievous and liked to cause trouble by playing all kinds of pranks. With the arrival of Wa-wah, it became the primary target for Ah Bao's pranks. He messed around with Wa-wah so much that it started smoking and experienced faults. It almost died.
Wa-wah hated Ah Bao, and was also very frightened of him. It avoided him like the plague. Privately, Wa-wah would frequently deride and gripe about how bad humans were. After which, there were two evil human traffickers who had set their sights on Lan Lan and Ah Bao. When their parents were not at home, they took the opportunity to kidnap them. Then it was Wa-wah robot to the rescue!
Through various thrilling and nerve-wracking battles of wits and courage, Wah-wah successfully rescued Lan Lan and Ah Bao. The evil human traffickers were trounced by Wa-wah and they were punished by the law. Through this process, Lan Lan and Ah Bao discovered that Wa-wah could speak.
After Wa-wah rescued them, the children treated Wa-wah as their best friend. Ah Bao was no longer mischievous or caused trouble. He became a sensible child who liked cleanliness. In order to get Wa-wah to play with him, he even took the initiative to help Wa-wah clean up. A perfect and happy story about a whole family ended at that point.
Shi Xiao Tao expressed that this was only the first part of the movie series. If the first part appealed to a large audience, the following episodes could be built on the foundation of the first part. The story could be extended and a second or even third part could be filmed. There was no need to worry that there would not be sufficient stories for the filming!
Chen Jin nodded. "It seems like you have a thorough understanding of the industrial production model of the successful Hollywood movies. Do you want to become a commercial film director?"
She rolled her eyes. "Isn't the purpose of making a movie to earn money? What's a movie if nobody watches it? And what's a director if he doesn't earn money from his films? I am a staunch businesswoman! In any case, the movies that I make must be profitable. I won't do business that gains attention but results in a loss!"
Chen Jin could not help but ask, "How would you win awards like this? For example, the Gold Rooster Awards or the Flowers Film Awards. The award winners are movies that don't have mass appeal. What would you do if you don't win an award?" He thought that her way of thinking was rather interesting.
Shi Xiao Tao brandished her little fist. "Why can I only prove myself by winning an award? The praise by the audience shown via the box office sales is the best award! One billion in box office sales means that the movie is not too bad; two billion means that the movie is very good; three billion means that the director is very impressive… I want to be the most impressive director!"
"Hahaha!" Chen Jin was enjoying this. "You have very pragmatic views. I really like it. Actually, my personal idea with regards to the movie 'Wa-wah robot' is to film it as a sci-fi movie, within a story about the stars and the seas. But your thoughts are in the right place. From the point of view of the box office performance, it is much better to film it as a whole and happy family movie that would appeal to both the young and old. We would have better box office earnings and it would have the benefit of increasing the popularity of the Wa-wah robot. So, I accept this script of yours. Find a professional screenwriter to do a little modification and it'll be ok. I can give you the adaptation rights to the film and TV works."
Hardcore sci-fi movies had a rather small audience in Z country's mainland. Intense and thrilling action movies, urban comedies, and movies that used a huge amount of special effects were more popular. Shi Xiao Tao's business insight was quite accurate. With her script, it should be easy to earn two to three billion in box office sales as long as the movie's production quality was good.
Chen Jin had not given up on the sci-fi movie about Wa-wah. He simply planned to film another sci-fi series in addition to the happy family series. It would be entrusted to a director specializing in making sci-fi movies. Of course, he would not find someone to make that series now. It would happen after the happy family series had become wildly popular.
"Really?!" Shi Xiao Tao was so happy that she bounced up and down in her chair. "This is great, thank you! Thank you, Chief Chen, for giving me this opportunity!" It was unexpected that she could gain this sort of approval and trust as a new prospective director without any works of a significant length under her belt. She was really pleasantly surprised! Of course, her own ability did play a part too.
"Don't be too happy yet!" Chen Jin said with a wave of his hand, "You've only passed the first test. Next, I hope that you'll do a movie demo using this script. It doesn't need to be too long. Three minutes is enough. Bring it over for me to take a look. If the demo is good and the quality is of a certain standard, then we can have the possibility of further collaboration." This was the reason why many directors did not follow up after approaching Chen Jin. It was because his demands were too rigorous. First, he wanted a script, and then a movie demo. They invested millions into their pitch but could not be certain of a getting a chance to collaborate. Who would have the guts to do this sort of thing?
But Shi Xiao Tao had the guts to do it! And she did it with all that she had. From this one could see the charm of this lady… Or rather, one should say that the young had no fear. "Ok! I'll assemble a team immediately to start working on the movie production. But I hope that you'll grant me a tiny request."
"Speak."
"I want to use the artistic style of the 'Wa-wah robot' advertisement series as a reference framework and directly adopt the robot's image from that series. This would help to reduce the workload in the art studios and speed up the progress of the movie's production… Chief Chen, if you have the related materials with you, I hope that you can give it to me for reference. It would be very troublesome to re-design everything from scratch; it would cause a two to three months delay." Shi Xiao Tao was a semi-professional comic artist with a very good foundation in fine arts! But, she knew how tedious and complicated art designing could be, especially for the production of an animated movie. Countless source materials would have to be drafted and rendered. If there was reference that was available, it would help to save a lot of work.
"Ok, no problem. I can give you the source materials for the advertisements!" Chen Jin nodded. He had seen her determination and drive, so he decided to give her a chance to try.
"Thank you Chief Chen, Thank you!" Shi Xiao Tao was overjoyed. Her heart overflowed with excitement. Yay! I've done it. I'll definitely make the movie! And I'll definitely succeed!
Contract negotiations were completed, and Chen Jin sent her out to the lobby and said that he would send the source materials over to her within the next two days. The two shook hands again, and Shi Xiao Tao left Shang Hai City.
...
In the early afternoon of the 11th of April, Chen Jin came over to Forever Jewels with some urgency. Once he alighted from his car, he immediately ran to the third story. In the lounge, he saw Store Manager Chiu Wan-Ting. With one look at her appearance, Chen Jin was shocked. He could not help but yell in surprise, "Auntie Chiu, you husband beat you into this state?"
Chiu Wan-Ting's appearance really was appalling. Her nose was bruised and her face was swollen. There was a spot on her cheek that was swollen to a size bigger than a fist. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were dull and listless. Her hands were swathed in gauze. The Store Manager's uniform was torn in many areas. Countless purple, red, and yellow bruises could be seen on her neck, collar, and legs.
Not only was her looks ruined, her body could also be described as a mass of wounds. Who did it? Of course it was her husband! It happened this morning when her husband seemed to have gone crazy for unknown reasons. After she had finished making breakfast and was preparing to leave for work, he demanded that she clean the house before leaving.
Chiu Wan-Ting said coldly, "The robot is in charge of the cleanliness, I don't have to clean! Also, for your lunch, you can call for takeaways. I'm not coming back to make lunch."
"What? You don't have to clean?" The man rushed towards Wa-wah's side and kicked it over. Then, he stomped on it crazily. "You don't have to clean! You don't have to clean!" In a few moments, the robots was stomped to pieces.
Chiu Wan-Ting immediately threw a random item with great force at him. "Huang You De, are you insane?!"
He walked over with red eyes, looking as if he was a mad beast. "Don't go to work anymore! Stay at home, and do the honest work of cleaning and cooking!"
Slap!
Chiu Wan-Ting delivered a smack with her palm.
Bam bam bam bam!
The two started to scuffle.
She managed to escape from the fight and came to to the shop looking like she did.
...
Chen Jin brandished his fist and said, "Auntie Chiu, you can't tolerate this anymore. That man is a coward and a good-for-nothing! Other than finding the meaning of his existence by making life difficult for you, he's just a useless bum! Today he's violent towards you; tomorrow he may want your life! I think you should cut your losses. For your own safety, you have leave that shit far away; you have to divorce him!" A vein throbbed in his forehead. Chen Jin had never felt so angry in his life.
"Yes! Chief Chen is right. Store Manager, you have to divorce him!"
"According to the anti-domestic violence law, you can unilaterally file for divorce. He has no choice but to agree. The law will also support you!"
"Yes, you were beaten into this state, this definitely counts as severe domestic violence!"
The staff were persuading and advising in droves; their voices overlapping.
Looking at the wounded and exhausted Store Manager, Guo Yan started to cry. Guo Yan held her hand and advised her as she cried, "Manager, cherish your life and leave this scum far, far away! We women have to learn how to protect ourselves!"
Chiu Wan-Ting slowly nodded and groaned out, "Yeah..." From within her listless gaze came a firm look that was brimming with energy.


Through a mysterious portal, Chen Jin arrived at this strange place - a post-apocalyptic world where civilization had been destroyed. 

Consequently, he found -

A piece of metal scrap
A robot trash collector
A battleground
A city
A ton and more of gold
A copy of high-tech documents
A...
In short, Chen Jin found a planet.

Might as well pull the trigger. Chen Chen had Little X downloaded all the movies ahead of time while he quickly headed over to the nuclear power plant.
The total power generation of the Blacklight nuclear power plant was measured at 2 million kilowatts. Half of that had to be sectioned out to power the Eco Science City, so all that remained for his use was a million kilowatt. Since the first inertial confinement reactor built in the Spire Experimental Base was just the first-generation model and still had plenty of technological deficiencies, its total power was only about 200,000 kilowatts.
The energy consumption of the Spire Experimental Base had to be subtracted as well, along with the power requirements to electrolyze water to extract deuterium and tritium fuel from seawater. After factoring in everything, there was not too much remaining electricity available for use.
That was the reason Chen Chen did not move the charging port of the USB drive to the Spire Experimental Base.
Having said that, a fusion reactor spanning across an area less than 1,000 square meters managed to generate total power nearly equivalent to a full-sized thermal power plant nearly five times larger. The sheer cost-performance ratio displayed by the fusion reactor was a symbol of its reputation.
After arriving at the nuclear power plant again and unplugging the USB drive, Chen Chen first sat in front of the computer and silently thought it over.
To be honest, Chen Chen was still somewhat opposed to the idea of acquiring technical information by entering the dimension on the opposite side of the passage.
This was due to each opening of the passage represented a possible risk of exposure to an unknown source of danger.
Even Chen Chen himself could not guarantee whether the looming threat could be brought into reality by his opening of the passage or not.
Besides, there had been a history of interaction between the Ebola virus from reality and the T-virus from Resident Evil. There was also the case of the three statues from reality and the statues from Elysium that had proven a sort of chain effect with reality. These factors alone were enough to dissuade Chen Chen from opening the passage.
Having said that, it was a stretch to say that these factors would dissuade Chen Chen from ever using the USB drive again. That was impossible…
Just like the NZT-48, once you used it, there would be no turning back. Was the USB drive any different from the NZT-48 at its core?
No, they both brought great joy and unending gratification.
"However, if I'm just instantiating, I can probably only use…"
Chen Chen roughly estimated the accumulated energy within the USB drive. The only one which could be instantiated from was probably the black sphere from Gantz.
After all, the black sphere was the smallest of them all. The teleportation devices from movies Terminator, Star Trek or The Fly were extremely large.
A teleportation device like the black sphere was not without its limitations. At one point in the movie, the protagonist was seen using a grappling gun-type weapon known as the Y-gun. The firearm launched a special rope that locked its target in place.
After that, the bound target would be transmitted to the satellite. Sometimes, only a small part of the target will be transmitted. Either way, it accomplished the task of killing the target.
In that case, would it be correct to assume that these people selected by the black sphere to carry out combat tasks were also transmitted to the outside world through these satellites?
If that was true, then merely instantiating one black sphere alone was not going to cut it.
Besides, there was no guarantee of Chen Chen being able to break down the technology of the black sphere even after instantiating it. There was a greater possibility of him only managing to figure it out on a surface level without getting a handle on its fundamentals.
Therefore, Chen Chen still needed complete documentation of the technology.
However, none of the five films - The Fly, Doom, Terminator, Gantz, and Star Trek - contained a scene that showed the general research details of their respective technologies.
If Chen Chen wanted to acquire the technical documentation, his only solution was to enter the movie's dimension.
Chen Chen begrudgingly shook his head at the circumstances. He silently weighed the potential danger he could face in each dimension against each other. In the end, he settled with the movie, The Fly.
Compared to Star Trek and the other movies which were technologically superior that they were almost an otherworldly civilization, it may appear that The Fly was the safest choice considering the only threat in the movie was a Frankenstein product of a fly instead of aliens or robotic armies.
To be fair, this was only the case when put in a side-by-side comparison with the other movies. If faced with a Frankenstein that could threaten the existence of modern human civilization, it would be not much different from having to face aliens or robot armies.
With this in mind, Chen Chen made a copy of the movie The Fly downloaded by Little X and dragged it into the USB drive.
"Ding!"
However, the laptop emitted a notification indicating a program error.
Chen Chen was immediately taken aback upon realizing that The Fly was rejected by the USB drive…
"WTF…"
Chen Chen frowned. Based on his observation, the world-building of The Fly was considerably simpler than most sci-fi movies. The simpler a movie was, the more it should align with the rules of the USB drive and should be more likely to be accepted by the USB drive.
"The only thing in this movie that dealt with scientific theory is the molecular transportation technology. In this case, does this mean…"
Seemingly understanding something, Chen Chen took a breath and made a copy of the movie Star Trek. Without sparing any further consideration, he dragged it into the USB drive.
"Ding!"
The USB drive had rejected Chen Chen yet again.
Chen Chen was certain that this was not a problem of the integrity of the story structure.
Based on Chen Chen's previous attempts, he had concluded that even if a movie was a part of a large series, it could still be recognized by the USB drive. Even if he had only put one portion of the series, it should still be accepted by the USB drive.
Unless it was a TV show, the entire season had to be inserted to be played.
This meant that the world setting of Star Trek was denied by the USB drive.
The way Chen Chen saw it, Star Trek perfectly aligned with the common ideals of a sci-fi universe. Its scientific component was more put together than most sci-fi movies. The only plausible reason that it would be rejected by the USB drive was possibly due to its enormous world background.
After all, the filming of the Star Trek series spanned over more or less fifty-years in total, producing over a thousand TV series episodes and more than a dozen movies. Due to its enormous world setting, there must have been some contradiction somewhere along the lines which led to its world setting being rejected by the USB drive.
"It seems that both of these movies are rejected by the USB drive…"
Chen Chen suddenly heard the voice of Little X. "Sir Godfather, we've already confirmed that Terminator and Gantz can both be contained inside the USB drive, so all that's left is the movie Doom. There's no telling if this movie can be accepted by the USB drive."
"I'm pretty sure I can wager the outcome at this point."
Still, Chen Chen moved his hand and dragged Doom into the USB drive, all the while shaking his head dejectedly. The USB drive once again produced an abrupt "ding".
All three movies were rejected.
"How did you figure that out?" Little X asked, somewhat astonished.
"It's pretty obvious at this point that the problem stems from the teleporter."
Chen Chen said while deleting the three rejected movies from the USB drive, "Did you notice? One thing all three movies rejected by the USB drive had in common was that all of their teleporters applied the so-called theory of particle decomposition. This means that a person is positioned on the teleporter platform while an operator toggles the button on the control panel in the control room. What happens after that is the teleporter targets each atom of the person on the platform and uses its transmission carrier to send these particles to the operator's desired location, where the atoms are reorganized accordingly.
"You can see this in Star Trek when Captain Picard and his crewmates dissolve into a scatter of light before reappearing on a distant planet…"
Chen Chen let a frown slip upon noting this. "But when you think about it, does this form of teleportation truly conforms to the concept of teleportation? The principle applied here leans closer to a modern fax machine – wherein the receiving point creates a copy of a person, just like creating a clone. In a similar vein, even we can clone a copy of a person by strictly adhering to the person's genetic information. This way, we can reproduce a person with matching genetic information, essentially a counterpart of the original body.
"Still, we all know that despite the similarities exhibited by the clone and the original body, there's zero relation whatsoever between them. Even if both of these entities possess the same memories, they aren't the same person!"


Who could have guessed that the accidental discovery of a pitch-black USB drive would one day turn Chen Chen’s world upside down? 
He quickly realizes that this was no ordinary USB drive—and it came with mysterious powers, along with its own hidden rules. Equipped with his skills and intellect as a student of biological science, Chen Chen strives to uncover the limit of the USB drive, and the limit of his own ambition. 
Follow Chen Chen in his pursuit of lofty aspirations—wealth, immortality, and otherworldly powers! It is a path that will lead him to a grand plan, one that will change the fate of humanity forever…


"Trevor, we received a request from Royston Tan. He was asking us if we would like to sponsor his next movie."
William Wang approached me the next day, waving his smartphone. As my secretary and vice-president (we had yet to find someone to delegate the role of secretary to), he was in charge of screening all calls and bringing only the most important matters to me while I focused most of my time and energy in building stuff.
The production of antimatter in particular was consuming a lot more of my time and attention than I expected. So was the Alcubierre drive, for that matter, but it was impossible to build the warp engine without an energy source. Hence I prioritized the production of antimatter first, so that we could generate the tremendous amounts of energies needed.
However, William brought this weird topic up to me, a few days after my visit to Lily Ling's family's manor. At first, I had half a mind to dismiss the request, but I recognized the name. Royston Tan? Wasn't he the director Lily and Arnold Ang were speaking to that other day? The one where they held some celebrity conference or gathering in Howard Hotel?
Speaking of which, it turned out that the gathering in Howard Hotel was just an excuse for the illegal celebrity prostitute syndicate to snare more targets, such as Lily. Unfortunately for them, my presence disrupted and ruined their plans, leading to the whole lot of bastards being caught and a few of them being killed.
I had no regrets killing Zachery Zhao. The rapist deserved it. Similarly, I had no sympathies for the late Yvonne Yang, who was murdered by the syndicate to cover up their crimes. Unfortunately for them, she had left the evidence to her agent, Victoria Lai, as one last spiteful act of defiant revenge, which eventually led to their downfall.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, indeed.
"Hmm, why is he asking us?"
"Because your fiancée is cast in his movie and he wondered if you would like this opportunity to put the name of our company on the big screen. You know how sponsoring a critically acclaimed movie would be great advertisement for us. Not to mention, Royston Tan is an up and coming young director. Having relations to him is a good thing."
I nodded, unable to deny that. However, I must have continued to look unconvinced, for William pressed on.
"If Royston Tan's next movie is as good as his previous ones, which earned him accolades and even several awards, then us contributing to it would leave a good impression on the arts and entertainment scene."
"You do realize that our company has little to do with the arts and entertainment industry?" I asked dryly. In fact, it was the direct opposite. We were an engineering company that designed technological machines for the future.
"Hah! Don't pretend to be some snobbish scientist now. I know for a fact that you have an interest in art and entertainment. You read plenty of sci-fi stories. You play Warhammer 40,000 and own a massive fraction of the Black Library sci-fi novels. You also bought entire series of military sci-fi books from Amazon, a lot of which involves space fleets, space marines and battle mech. Ian Douglas is your favorite author, isn't he? And even though they stopped publishing the series halfway, you read almost the whole Starfist series. I haven't even included the Battletech series that you own yet."
"How do you know about that?" I asked, getting disturbed by William's intimate knowledge of my reading habits. This was a downright invasion of my privacy.
"Bro, we've been buddies for over a decade now. It would be stranger if I didn't know about this. Besides, you were the one who told me about them." William grimaced. I then recalled how I attempted to introduce my favorite military sci-fi series to him, despite him not being interested. It was incredible how he still remembered which were my favorite series, despite him having no intention of reading them. What a pal.
Or maybe he just had a good memory.
"That said, I don't think Royston Tan is intending to make a sci-fi film, is he? It's not as if he's interested in space opera."
"No, he's the artsy kind of director. Rather than space opera, he makes soap operas featuring the daily lives of regular human beings."
That sounded as boring as fuck to me, but then again I only read military sci-fi featuring massive battles between space armadas, or a squad of space marines defying all odds to overcome a technologically superior alien enemy or countless insect-like aliens that swarmed over human planetary systems like locusts, or wars between towering giant robots sporting enough laser and particle weaponry to level entire cities.
Yeah, you could probably see how I ended up in my current job. I was literally trying to make my fantasies a reality.
Even so, since this involved Lily, I had no choice but to feign at least the minimum amount of interest and ask for more details.
"So what is Royston Tan's new film about?"
If he wanted my company to sponsor his new movie, he had to at least provide some details. Otherwise it would be unprofessional. No company was stupid enough to sponsor a movie when they had no idea what it would be about. Especially since it would involve a massive influx of cash, investment and commitment.
"Um…hold on a second." William was scrolling down his smartphone right now, hastily rereading the email he had received. He raised an eyebrow in an exaggerated manner before modulating his tone to sound as dramatic as possible. "The new film promises to invoke emotions of melodrama and intense empathy by showcasing the lives of people who have been displaced by the building of the dam at the Three Gorges River. The plot will specifically revolve around a man whose home village has been demolished in order for the government to forcibly build the dam, and his attempts to come to terms with his dislocation. While leaving the village that has been his home for decades, he attempts to find the people from his past, including a woman he loved and had sworn to marry, but these encounters end in bittersweet tragedy."
"Hmm…" I paused for a moment, turning the idea over my head. That indeed sounded like melodrama, something you would expect from an arts film. Even though I wasn't very familiar with Royston Tan's work, I knew enough to have some kind of idea of how it would unfold. I couldn't say it was appealing to me, but I could see how it would be popular among many circles, particularly film students. Honestly, I could see the artistic and emotional value in such work.
Yeah, this would work.
"I like the idea of filming about the displacement of people…people who lose their homes where they have lived for decades, the sacrifice they make because the government wants to push economic and technological development through."
That was something I could sympathize with, but sometimes I had no choice. I was aware of how much harm I would cause by creating such hi-tech weapons for warfare. But by doing so, I saved more soldiers' lives. Besides, even if I didn't, the researchers and engineers from other nations would eventually develop their own versions. Only the most naïve would believe that true peace could be maintained if I – as an individual – didn't work on inventing new weapons and military technology. Someone would do it eventually. At the very least, my military technology was focused on saving soldiers' lives. That was why they took the form of defensive energy shields and highly armored giant robots or near indestructible battleships.
My intention wasn't to magnify firepower and kill more of the enemy, but rather to preserve more of our soldiers.
Even so, I wasn't blind to the fact that people would inevitably die because of me. Perhaps I was a hypocrite, but my hypocrisy was necessary for the survival of this nation. The other nations weren't going to sit around and put off developing their own weapons and hi-tech devices just because I refused to invent anything.
However, there was another angle I was interested in.
"Ask Royston Tan if he intends to include an environmental perspective. As in, will he also film the environmental destruction that the dam-building project results in? Or will it be entirely focused on the human aspect?"
"Uh, that's a good question." William pondered on this for a moment before he nodded. He then began typing away furiously on the touchscreen of his smartphone. "I'll ask him right away."
"Thanks."
"Still…" William looked up from typing on his smartphone, smirking. "I didn't know you were such an environmentalist."
"I…probably am not."
I sighed and turned away. One of my biggest reasons for developing nanotechnology was the environment. After centuries of pollution, the world was slowly sliding toward an unlivable state. If we didn't do anything, it would be too late.
Hopefully nanotechnology could help decrease the carbon content in the environment, with nano-bots moving through the oceans and converting oil spills, plastics and other forms of pollution into harmless substances – or even beneficial substances. Unfortunately, I knew that was but a pipe dream. It would be so easy to wish for some magical solution to hand-wave pollution away and undo environmental damage with the flick of a finger, but it wasn't realistic.
The most practical measures was still to limit the emission of greenhouse gases, stop fracking and shut down fossil fuel and oil industries for good. Fortunately, we had already done that in the last century or so, before it was too late. I remembered the Great Green Deal of the mid-twenty-first century, which was designed to halt global warming before temperatures soared to unlivable levels. The oil tycoons and politicians who promoted fossil fuels were overthrown and mobbed by angry people who were losing their homes to coastal flooding when the polar caps melted and caused the sea levels to rise. Great famines in Africa because of climate change had shaken the world, and eventually the poor population said enough was enough.
People power was the best power.
"All right, I've sent the question. I'll let you know when Royston Tan replies." William waved his smartphone, as if to emphasize his point. I nodded gratefully.
"Thanks. I'll be relying on you."


A poor CEO, whose struggling company is on the verge of bankruptcy, encounters a rich Heiress who has been drugged by her stepsister.

Were you expecting a one night stand? Nope, the poor CEO is only interested in building giant robots! However, in order to secure the funding he needs to make his dream a reality, he finds his fate entangled with that of the Heiress.

Sparks will fly as the battle between man and woman, as well as the war between colossal bipedal machines, begins!

First off, I would like to point out that this is a fannovel of a popular (and loved by myself) military sci-fi shooter called Halo. Most Characters, Settings, Weapons and Locations within this book, are respectfully the property of 343 Industries, I do not own any of the aforementioned, this is a fan project dedicated towards this amazing franchise, not for profit nor publicity.

 I would like to thank Bungie for creating such an amazing game series that has been around for nearly two decades. And thank the wonderful people at 343 Industries who push on hard to uphold the Halo series today. 

I would like to also thank a particular inspiration to me as certain people may be able to infer from the cover and title of this fanbook. Eric Nylund, a great author and one who helped to breathe life into such an amazing franchise, even before Halo CE was released, loved by Halo Fans everywhere. I would also like to thank, and credit Fred Van Lente, who created the four main characters used in this fanbook, Van Lente created the main characters, and I hold no ownership over them. Fred is a great comic and book writer, making amazing works on not just Halo, but numerous Superheroes from the MARVEL franchise.

I would like to thank my parents, for always being there for me. And driving me to where I am today, looking after me, listening to me, and just generally how well you guys do your jobs. You have my eternal gratitude and thanks.

Lastly, I dedicate this to all Halo fans, whether casual or hardcore, like me. Halo has given me my very own "Great Journey" through the years of my life on Xbox, meeting amazing people through the common love of a great franchise of a military sci-fi shooter. Here is to nearly two decades of Halo, and two decades more!


It is the twenty sixth century, humanity has expanded across the stars, culminating in hundreds of worlds that humanity calls their homes, safeguarded by the might of the United Earth Government and the United Nations Space Command.

The UNSC. having struggled beneath its weight under the insurrection which cut a terrorising swath across the colonies. As a result, the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) launches the SPARTAN II Program to stomp out the insurrection and restore law and order to humanity's interstellar frontier. 

But with the arrival of a new enemy, the Covenant, an alien empire caste who see humanity as an offense to their religion, and are bent on one thing. The total annihilation and extinction of the human species, burning through humanity's defences and killing billions. Humanity’s only chance for survival now lies on the SPARTAN II Program. Now, In 2552, after 27 years since first contact with the alien Covenant,  they have found Reach, humanity’s fortress world amongst the stars. Outnumbered and outgunned, the defence of Reach, now rests on a squad of the hardened and battle armoured SPARTAN IIs, including those of the SPARTANs known as “BLACK Team”.

First off, I would like to point out that this is a fannovel of a popular (and loved by myself) military sci-fi shooter called Halo. Most Characters, Settings, Weapons and Locations within this book, are respectfully the property of 343 Industries, I do not own any of the aforementioned, this is a fan project dedicated towards this amazing franchise, not for profit nor publicity.
 
I would like to thank Bungie for creating such an amazing game series that has been around for nearly two decades. And thank the wonderful people at 343 Industries who push on hard to uphold the Halo series today.
 
I would like to also thank a particular inspiration to me as certain people may be able to infer from the cover and title of this fanbook. Eric Nylund, a great author and one who helped to breathe life into such an amazing franchise, even before Halo CE was released, loved by Halo Fans everywhere. I would also like to thank, and credit Fred Van Lente, who created the four main characters used in this fanbook, Van Lente created the main characters, and I hold no ownership over them. Fred is a great comic and book writer, making amazing works on not just Halo, but numerous Superheroes from the MARVEL franchise.
 
I would like to thank my parents, for always being there for me. And driving me to where I am today, looking after me, listening to me, and just generally how well you guys do your jobs. You have my eternal gratitude and thanks.
 
Lastly, I dedicate this to all Halo fans, whether casual or hardcore, like me. Halo has given me my very own "Great Journey" through the years of my life on Xbox, meeting amazing people through the common love of a great franchise of a military sci-fi shooter. Here is to nearly two decades of Halo, and two decades more!

It is the twenty sixth century, humanity has expanded across the stars, culminating in hundreds of worlds that humanity calls their homes, safeguarded by the might of the United Earth Government and the United Nations Space Command.

The UNSC. having struggled beneath its weight under the insurrection which cut a terrorising swath across the colonies. As a result, the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) launches the SPARTAN II Program to stomp out the insurrection and restore law and order to humanity's interstellar frontier.

But with the arrival of a new enemy, the Covenant, an alien empire caste who see humanity as an offense to their religion, and are bent on one thing. The total annihilation and extinction of the human species, burning through humanity's defences and killing billions. Humanity’s only chance for survival now lies on the SPARTAN II Program. Now, In 2552, after 27 years since first contact with the alien Covenant, they have found Reach, humanity’s fortress world amongst the stars. Outnumbered and outgunned, the defence of Reach, now rests on a squad of the hardened and battle armoured SPARTAN IIs, including those of the SPARTANs known as “BLACK Team”.

I stare at Hendrix, completely dumbstruck. How? Didn't we both die? What's going on?

I try to say something. For some reason, I can't move. Only my eyes can. Nothing else is moving either. Hendrix, the clouds outside, the trees, nothing. Is this some sort f post-death limbo that makes you stand in one of your memories forever? What is this?

I take a moment to calm down and process this situation.

Now that I've calmed down somewhat, I notice three rectangles with words in them floating in midair. That wasn't there before. 

Wait a minute. Is this my ExtrA?

ExtrA, or ExtrA Ability, is an ability all humans are born with. ExtrA is not activated at birth, though. It generally activates at puberty, but there are some exceptions. They latest someone's ExtrA ever activated was at 18. ExtrAs are all unique to a person; there can be similar ExtrAs but none are exactly the same. 

For example, if someone can produce water, that does not necessarily mean that they can control water. If someone can control water, they may not be able to create water. These ExtrAs are similar, but different.

My ExtrA hasn't activated until now. I assume that the pre-requisite to activate my ExtrA is death. ExtrAs shouldn't need pre-requisites to activate though. I guess that's just another way I'm different from other people.

Now to read these blocks. They're lined up vertically. The top one says <Save your class. Total people: 23 (not including you.) 

Difficulty: 1 (Hard)

Rewards: B (1st), C (2nd), E>

The middle one says <Save yourself.

Difficulty: 0.3 (Easy)

Rewards: F>

And the bottom block says <Read the tutorial, then come back (does not affect number of tries.)

Difficulty: None

Rewards: None>

What is this? "Difficulty?" "Rewards?" Is this like a video game? But why is this system using numbers AND letters? Just stick with one rating type!

What should I do now? I guess I should choose the tutorial option since I have no idea what's going on. But how? I try to mentally click on the bottom option.

<Tutorial started.>

Oh, it worked. A white holographic screen pops up. Text appears on it.

[Welcome to the TV World Game System. I, the system, exists to help the player survive in the TV world. I changed this world to one that follows the laws in TV shows. Changes to current world are trivial things like minor character changes, minor motivation changes, and ignorance of TV cliches. Other people will not recognize TV cliches in the world. In addition, events that more closely resemble TV laws and cliches will begin happening. Questions?]

'Uh yes, I have a lot of questions! Like, did this system just change the entire world?! What kind of system can do that?! And is this like a game system? And WHAT DID THIS SYSTEM DO TO THE WORLD?! Cliches? Will there be plot holes and main characters? If there are, that means there are villains! How do I protect myself? And about this situation, why am I back here ALIVE, but with time paused? Is this a super-overpowered system?'

I mean seriously, this system not only changed the world, but it also revived me and froze time!

[...That's a lot of questions. To start, yes, I altered the universe to follow the laws of TV. Yes, I'm a game system, you may see my functions later. What I did wasn't much. Existing places or people will not suddenly become cliches. For example, the government will not suddenly create a conspiracy of mind control or anything like that. There will be cliches and plot holes in future events. They will mainly be sci-fi cliches due to this world being classified as "sci-fi."

As for main characters, you will see labels above each person stating their status in the TV world. I will help you protect yourself against villains and dangerous cliches. I could be considered overpowered.

You are here due to your passive ability, <Respawn> that automatically teleports you to a random point in time less than two days before your death, upon your death. From there, you are required to pick one choice to move time forward. Number of choices, rewards, and difficulty will vary. 

The difficulty is rated from 0-10, with 0 being the lowest. The rating after the number is how hard the difficulty is based on your current level. In certain choices, you get a Mission Item to help you complete your choice. You can repeat the choice as many times you want, however if you die more than once, you will not be able to keep the Mission Item after completing the choice. Rewards are also better on the first try after choosing the choice. Any further questions or can we move on?]

I take a minute to digest what the system just told me. I really am in a sci-fi cliche. "Kid with mysterious parents goes to elite sci-fi school!" 

Choices? So those blocks were "choices." I guess they're like missions. It seems that the higher difficulty gives me a better reward. There were also numbers after the ranking of the reward, "1st," "2nd," and then just an E. 

'System, what do the numbers after the reward rankings mean?'

[They are the number of tries that you are eligible for that reward. The B reward in the first choice can only be obtained after the first try. Any more than that will result in you losing that reward. The E has no number, meaning that you can obtain that reward from the third try onwards. You can only get one reward.]

That sounds reasonable. I guess I don't have any questions for now. Oh wait.

'System, are you my ExtrA?'

[...You can say that.]

'What does that mean?'

[I come from a different dimension. I was installed in you by your parents.]

WHAT?! Different dimension? My parents? But wait, if they got this system, then that means they went to another dimension!

'What do my parents do? Like, work-wise.'

[Information unknown. I only know that they probably possess the ability to travel between dimensions at will. They possibly came to this dimension from another.]

Wait, that would make me a trans dimensional baby! Okay, I know I'm not a baby, but I could have superpowers that are not ExtrAs!

[Not likely. The majority of nearby dimensions do not have any type of magic.]

Wait, it heard was I was thinking? Well, it makes sense. Technically I'm thinking when I talk to the System. 'What do you mean by nearby?'

[Dimensions are structured in a plane,  much like this universe. The dimensional plane expands much faster than the universe. Not to mention dimensions are much bigger than planets.]

Well, that makes sense. Actually, everything makes sense now. I was wondering why my library at home had technology much more advanced than anything anyone else has. While Earth has expanded to different solar systems, it hasn't expanded out of the Milky Way. The library has ebooks on warp drives, with can travel instantaneously. 

'I'm done asking questions.'

[Okay.] The screen disappears, replaced by the top two blocks of text from before. I should choose something now. Standing in one place is a little weird.

Let's go over the options. I don't want to save anyone, but the top choice has better rewards. The bottom choice is safer, but it has less rewards. I wish I could get one of those Mission Items.

[Mission Items are unlocked in System Lvl 1. The current System Lvl is 0.] Now the System is using a robotic voice to communicate.

'How do I upgrade the System?'

[Complete one choice.]

Well that's easy. I was going to anyway.

Now what should I choose? Save 23 people? Or should I just save myself?

After a long period of thinking, I choose the top option. Saving my class doesn't take much more effort than saving myself in this situation. I just have to get out quicker.

The choices disappear. Hendrix looks up and says, "Oh you're early. Did second period end yet?"

"Nope." I say.

Hendrix gives me strange look, but doesn't question me any further. Seriously, how is he a teacher here?

I now notice a white, glowing label above Hendrix's head. <Protagonist's Mentor.>

WTF?! How is Hendrix the protagonist's mentor? Aren't they usually old guys or kind and friendly people? Oh wait, there's another cliche. "Lazy-looking Guy is actually OP and a great mentor." That was used in Naruto. Makes sense now.

I head towards the desk I sat at before I died. Streaks of what I now know as someone's ExtrA flash. They must be attacking the college sector of the campus.

Ian comes in. He once again sits next to me. I follow the script of greeting and chatting while thinking of a quick way to get out of the school. Using an alternate exit won't work. They're all too far away. We could run I guess, but what if a piece of debris hits someone? There's only one way...

The rest of the class comes in I count 22 kids and one teacher. Exactly as the choices said.

Hendrix turns the holoboard on. The slides start showing again. Last time, we were hit when the slide for lunch behavior was showed. I get ready.

"Behavior for the Cafeteria."

Boom!

The power cuts out. Here we go again.

Most people think choices are a matter of life or death.

My choices come AFTER my death.

On my first day of school, I die. Sad, right? Luckily I manifest my ExtrA (Extra Ability) right at that moment and respawn. I now have the ability to make choices after I die. Plus, I get a system with shops and everything else a system needs. It sounds cool, but the prerequisite is kinda bad...

After that hectic first day, random dangerous things that somehow are connected keep happening. Conspiracies, alien invasions, minor catastrophes. And they all happen while I’m in school.

Coincidence? I hope so!

But it’s not. The system also turned the world into a TV show! I guess having a game-like system is too overpowered. But now I also have to deal with plot holes and cliches.

At least I’m not the main character. And I know this because I can see labels above everyone’s heads. Oh, a spy in our school! How nice.

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